Lawmakers are accusing the Department of Justice and Attorney General Pam Bondi of “spying” on Congress members after a photo showed Bondi holding a note with Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s unredacted search history for the Epstein files. The photo, taken by Getty and other agencies, appears to list the documents Jayapal searched through when Congress members were granted access to some unredacted Epstein files.
Rep. Jayapal called the practice “totally inappropriate” and said it was a violation of the separation of powers. Her colleague Rep. Jamie Raskin echoed her sentiments, saying it was “outrageous” and “Orwellian.” Other lawmakers, including Reps. Suhas Subramanyam and Hank Johnson, have previously criticized the DOJ’s process of sharing the Epstein files with Congress.
While some Republican lawmakers have expressed concern, others have stopped short of criticizing the DOJ. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that tracking lawmakers’ file searches would be “inappropriate” if it happened. The DOJ has not commented on the matter yet.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/02/12/lawmakers-accuse-doj-of-spying-on-their-epstein-file-searches-citing-photo-of-bondis-burn-book